Ashraful made his first-class debut on 22 November 2000, playing for Dhaka Metropolis cricket team. He opened the batting, scoring 41 and 6; Ashraful also claimed five wickets for 59 runs in the first innings with his leg-spin bowling.[7] Three days later Ashraful made his list A debut, again playing for Dhaka Metropolis and opening the batting he scored 22 and took two wickets as his team won the match.[8] Ashraful scored his maiden first-class century in his second match, making 101 against Khulna Division.[9] The seven wickets Ashraful took for 99 runs in a match against Chittagong Division in January 2001 remain his best bowling figures.[10][11] Over the course of the season he played ten first-class matches – scoring 585 runs at an average of 30.78, including two centuries,[12] and taking 39 wickets at an average of 25.48, including three five-wicket hauls.[13] He also played nine list A matches, scoring 85 runs[14] and taking four wickets.[15]

Ashraful made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe on 11 April 2001, where he made 9 runs and Bangladesh lost the match by 36 runs. He took his first international wicket in the match, that of Andy Flower.[16]